(TV series "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom")
Xiang Rong, the commander of the Qing army's Jiangnan battalion, deployed the red single ship on the river near Nanjing, thus cutting off the connection between Nanjing and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Xiang Rong's move was equivalent to choking the neck of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and after a long time, there was a shortage of supply in Nanjing, and the grain in the city began to be scarce. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiang Rong continued to expand the Jiangnan camp and occupied the Taiping Army's various barriers at Yuhuatai, so that for a period of time, the Taiping Army did not dare to leave the city.
Yang Xiuqing could no longer ignore the existence of the Jiangnan battalion, and he was determined to draw heavy troops from the battlefield of the Western Expedition and completely destroy the Jiangnan camp.
The first to return to the aid was Qin Rigang, the former Yan king in the Anhui battlefield, and Yang Xiuqing gave him the task of opening up the passage between Nanjing and Zhenjiang. Zhenjiang is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, which is the southeast barrier of Nanjing, just like during the Opium War, the British army wanted to occupy Nanjing, and must first attack Zhenjiang, but at this time Xiang Rong had separated Nanjing from Zhenjiang.
In order to cope with the counterattack of the Taiping Army, Xiang Rong and Jiangsu Inspector Gilhang'a divided their labor, Xiang Rong was responsible for leading the Jiangnan battalion to block Qin Rigang's eastward movement, and Gil hang'a was responsible for blocking the westward advance of the Zhenjiang Taiping Army.
Although Qin Rigang was defeated by the Xiang army in Tianjiazhen, his troops had been fighting on the front line in Anhui for a long time, and their combat strength was very strong. After more than a month of fierce fighting, Qin Rigang finally broke through the defensive line and reached Zhenjiang, after which he crossed the Yangtze River at night and stormed the Jiangbei camp.
Qi Shan, who had once commanded the Jiangbei camp, had already died of illness in Yangzhou. The life of a warrior and a horseman, the highly stressful environment, obviously caused great harm to his health, and if he could raise his life in the capital or some quieter place, with the optimism of the lord, he would not have such a short lifespan.
If Qi Shan is still there, Jiangbei Camp can resist it, and replacing it with someone else is another matter. The successor Tomin a lot of experience in the war, but just one face, his Jiangbei camp collapsed, and Yangzhou was once again occupied by the Taiping Army.
The fact that the Jiangbei camp was so soft was something that Xiang Rong had not imagined before, and he was forced to dispatch the main force to cross the river to the north to aid, and only then did he slightly stabilize the situation on the north bank. As soon as he sent the soldiers out, he got another piece of news that frightened him, and the second group of Western Expeditionary Forces had arrived, and Shi Dakai, the wing king who had returned from the Jiangxi battlefield, was about to arrive.
Shi Dakai's ability and battle record were still far above Qin Rigang's, and Xiang Rong hurriedly withdrew the main force on the north bank to block Shi Dakai. Left and right, he has completely lost his square inch.
Qin Rigang was able to cross the Zhenjiang River south again, and taking advantage of xiang rong's lack of time to take care of it, he joined forces with the Zhenjiang defenders and stormed the Qing fortress outside the city.
These forts were built by Gilhanga. Gilhang'a, an official from the Eight Banners of Manchuria, had captured Shanghai and defeated the Knife Society during his tenure, and had been besieging Zhenjiang ever since. However, dealing with the knife will be one thing, and fighting the Taiping Army is another matter, and in terms of combat effectiveness, the Taiping Army is several levels higher than the armed forces that have the rudimentary form of the party like the knife club.
When Jirhangana did not fall on the Zhenjiang River, he was also prepared to besiege wuchang for a long time like Hu Linyi, and these fortresses were specially used to cover the grain routes of the Zhenjiang defenders.
The aides advised Gilhanga: "Now that the Taiping Army is so aggressive, it is better to avoid its front for the time being and abandon the fortress." ”
Gilhang'a disagreed: "The Taiping Army keeps a close eye on the fortress, that is, it knows that the fortress is very deadly to them, and if you insist on it, maybe the food of the defenders will be cut off, and Zhenjiang will be easy to attack." We have been besieging for so many days and cannot be easily abandoned. ”
With that, Gilhanga led his troops into the fortress.
Of course, what Gilhang'a said was reasonable, but the problem was that the conditions for the long siege of Zhenjiang had long been gone. Not only has Qin Rigang already entered and exited repeatedly, but Zhenjiang can still obtain grain from Yangzhou on the north bank.
Qin Rigang then, in turn, tightly surrounded the fortress. Gilhanga fought fiercely for five days and nights, personally waving the flag and commanding, and finally was shot and killed. The fortress guards were about to rush out with his corpse, but they could not rush out at all, and they died in a bloody battle.
One of the eight flags deputy commanders of Gilhang'a was lucky to break through, and when he came out, he cried bitterly and said, "I started fighting with Jigong (referring to Gilhang'a) in the army very early, and now that he is dead, he can't even find his body, how can I continue to live alone?" He immediately committed suicide by throwing himself into the river.
(Excerpt from Guanhe Fifty Prefectures "Late Qing Empire")
The physical book "The Storm of the Late Qing Empire" has been published and listed.